Alternative Title

Sea-river shipping competitiveness and its geographical market area for the Rhône-Saône corridor

Abstract

Sea-river shipping is a form of short-sea transport and an interesting multi-modal transport. Its concept is simple: one vessel sails both coastal and inland waters. Sea-river ships can connect the hinterland with overseas destinations without the need for an intermediate transhipment. As a result, transport costs are lowered and the risk of damage due to handling is reduced. Nevertheless, sea-river shipping has not been significantly developed in Europe (Rissoan, 1994, 1995). Substantial traffic volumes are only found on a very limited number of routes (e. G. Rhine; some Russian waterways). In France, it is restricted to a very limited number of waterways, such as the Seine or the Rhône-Saône basin. On the Rhône-Saône corridor, sea-river shipping can directly connect inland ports with Mediterranean seaports. Then, it offers “Rhône valley-Mediterranean” logistics. Rissoan (1987) tries, for different products, to define the competitive navigational area of sea-river shipping (including river and maritime trips). Konings and Ludema (2000) evaluate the opportunities for sea-river shipping on the United Kingdom – Germany corridor (Rhine). They examine its competitiveness with regard to a number of alternative transport modes. Nonetheless, there is no study which calculates the volume that divides the transport market between sea-river shipping and a “river + sea” alternative. A reasonable question arises: at which threshold, in terms of tonnage, are sea-river vessels more efficient than barge+shortsea transport service? Comparing the returns to scale of each transport chain, we define this tipping point. The costs production function is taken from Cullinane – Khanna (2000) and Stopford (2002). After addressing this question, we determine, for different ports of the Rhône-Saône corridor, the maximum sea trip that is efficient for a sea-river vessel (as a function of tonnage). After Rissoan (1987), we define the competitive navigational area of sea-river shipping. Our specific contribution is to consider the nautical access offered by inland ports along the Rhône and the Saône.